THURSDAY, 4.30PM
JAPAN’S new ‘envoy for Africa’, Morihisa Aoki, made his first trip to the Great Lakes region this week, where he said that Japan would like to play a bigger role in Africa — but has less money to spend here.
He said aid to Africa was likely to be cut by 25% in US dollar terms. “I am afraid Africa will be the major victim of aid cuts.” Future aid will depend on political criteria, such as the quality of government in a given country and the “absence of conflicts,” he said.
Aoki also warned the Congo-Kinshasa government that Japan will link aid to the results of the UN investigation into alleged massacres of Rwandan refugees in the former Zaire.
Japan has had little interest in African in the past, with only 16 small and underequipped embassies. Africa is grouped along with the Arab nations under a single Japanese foreign ministry department.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
RESERVES HEALTHY The Reserve Bank’s foreign exchange reserves remain healthy despite the stock market crisis, according to figures released on Thursday by governor Chris Stals. The Bank’s net open forex position is currently $16,7-billion, down only slightly from the end-September position, which was $17,1-billion.
The Bank’s gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to R27,3-billion on October 31, up from R26,5-billion at the end of September.
Preliminary estimates show the Bank’s offshore loans outstanding increased to R8,8-billion in October from R5,9-billion the previous month, resulting in a decline in the net reserve position of R2-billion.
See the Reserve Bank
MINERS SIGN PRODUCTIVITY DEAL An interim agreement linking wages to productivity has been signed by the National Union of Mineworkers and Gold Fields of South Africa for its Kloof, East and West Driefontein operations. The controversial deal aims to increase gold production by 46 tons next year and has come under fire from several sections of the union. NIGERIA STRIKE ENDS NIGERIAN oil workers, who have been on strike for a week, crippling the oil industry, agreed to return to work today.
DIDATA BLOOMSINFORMATION technology group Dimension Data, which bought out the leading Internet Service ProviderInternet Solutions last week, announced a whopping 86% increase in earnings to September 30, compared to the same period last year. Attributable earnings rose from R84 million to R154 million, and turnover rose 64% to R1,6 billion.
HOUSING UPGRADE SOCIAL housing group Johannesburg Housing Company has launched a study of warehouses and offices on the derelict east side of inner Johannesburg, to consider the viability of turning these buildings into low-cost housing, in partnership with existing owners.
JOBS DOWN JOB creation is not keeping pace with the targets set in the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) strategy, deputy president Thabo Mbeki said in parliament. But he said a reason could be that the statistics do not include private education and helath services and most professional services, or the employment-creation projects initiated by the government.
IMF HOLDS BACK ON KENYA THE International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that it is continuing to hold back on aid to Kenya until the government shows more progress on eradicating mismanagement and corruption. Despite assurances from president Daniel Arap Moi, the IMF refuses to move until concrete reforms have taken place.
STALS SPENDS $1,5bn ANALYSTS estimate that it has cost Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals $1,5 billion on four trading days to support the rand after the sell-off of local bonds and equites by overseas investors. The actual figures will only be released on Monday as part of the bank’s October report. Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals has said only that “there was no large scale intervention … we provided liquidity because there was a shortage of dollars.”.
JOBS SUMMIT POSTPONED A PRESIDENTIAL summit on job creation, scheduled for November, has been postponed to next year because neither the government nor the National Economic Development and Labour Council have agreed on a strategy to balance economic growth and job creation.
STRONG FOREIGN BUYING FOREIGN traders bought R1,097 billion worth of shares on the JSE last week, despite the global stock market crisis, the JSE said on Monday. In the same week last year, they bought only R162,7 million shares. Foreigners have spent R22,4 billion on the JSE so far this year, compared to R5 billion over the same period last year.